The wind blew and the graupel fell, and nonetheless they waited, 1000’s of Trump supporters in traces that snaked across the blocks close to Capital One Area on Sunday. The traces weren’t shifting, and neither had been they. After the Presidential Inaugural Committee requested TV screens be faraway from the Nationwide Mall, Sunday’s victory rally and Monday’s whatever-you-call it, additionally scheduled for Capital One, was their greatest probability to see the man they voted for.
Distributors who may need offered Harris/Walz gear final fall had been stationed alongside the road promoting MAGA put on, and because the climate acquired worse they lined piles of shirts that learn “TRUMP THAT BITCH” and “I’M VOTING FOR THE OUTLAW” with rubbish baggage to guard them from the climate. At tenth and G, two very tall versatile flagpoles flew a half-dozen sigils every with messages like “TRUMP: BECAUSE I KIND OF LIKE FREEDOM AND SHIT.” There was plenty of stuff out there to buy at a stand close by.
No counterprotests had been instantly obvious, just a few PETA activists accompanying a moist white rat mascot with an indication urging finances cuts for the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, and a lone man carrying a pink “HARRIS” flag. Some folks making an attempt to maneuver between the road and the anti-scale fencing alongside F Road exterior the world gave it a half-hearted slap as they handed.
The rally was scheduled to start at 3 PM, however as that point got here and went it appeared unlikely that the general public exterior would make it inside. On the Metro, some individuals who’d bailed tried to determine the best way to get again to the place they had been staying. Not lengthy after that, heavy snow started to fall.
Senior editor
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was beforehand with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington Metropolis Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
